Flush mount indicator



July 4, 1967 F. J. RYAN FLUSH MOUNT INDICATOR Filed July 12, 1965 lave-21%;": Frederick J. Ryan.

United States Patent 3,329,951 FLUSH MOUNT INDICATOR Frederick J. Ryan, Franklin, Mass., assignor to United- Carr Incorporated, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 12, 1965, Ser. No. 471,224 2 Claims. (Cl. 340-381) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This is a one piece housing for an electric bulb which includes a flexible wing extending from two spaced side walls of the housing.

The base of the housing may be extended by a rib which acts as a stabilizing portion.

This invention relates generally to indicator assemblies and more specifically to flush mount indicator assemblies.

An object of the present invention is to provide an integral lens and fastener means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a housing including integral flexible side wings and means for detachably engaging a fastener means.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a fastener assembly which automatically positions a bulb or the like in an indicator assembly.

Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a bottom plan view of the housing;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the housing shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the housing shown in FIG. 1 engaged with the lens fastener and with an apertured support shown in section;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the assembly shown in FIG. 3 with the apertured support shown in section;

FIG. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the lens fastener;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the bulb resistor and wire leads;

FIG. 8 is an end elevation of a variation of the assembly shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the assembly shown in FIG. 8.

In the drawing there is shown a flush mount indicator assembly including a one piece housing 10 formed of an insulating material such as nylon, an aperture support member 12, and a lens member 14. V

The housing 10 comprises a bulb retaining portion 16 and a leader retaining and separating portion 18 which extends from the bulb retaining portion 16.

The leader retaining and separating portion 18 includes two tubular portions 20 and 22 in abutting relation and having a common wall portion. The tubular portion 22 is longer than the tubular portion 20, thereby avoiding the necessity of bending either of the conductor leads of a bulb 24. A stabilizing rib 26 extends from the external surface between the two tubular portions from the plane of connection between the bulb retaining portion 16 and the leader retaining and separating portion 18 to the end of the shorter tubular portion 20. The bottom surface of the stabilizing rib 26 is on the same plane as the base portion'28 of the bulb retaining portion 16. The stabilizing rib 26 eliminates back pressure when forces are applied at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the tubular portions 20 and 22 toward a support 12 and it also assists in guiding the housing into engagement with the lens member 14.

The bulb retaining portion 16 comprises a base portion surfaces which serve to reflect emitted light and which serve as a bulb centralizing means. The two outside flutes also serve as a guide means for the leads 46 extending from the bulb 24. A slotted keyway 34 is formed through the base portion 28 opening at the bottom as shown in FIG. 1. The arced shoulder 31 formed on the inner surface of the central flute is slightly spaced from the juncture of the bulb retaining portion 16 and the leader retaining and separating portion 18, and serves as a part of the nest for the bulb 24, with the stepped portion 33 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. The flexible wings 32 are integral with and extend from the external surface of each of the walls 30 of bulb retaining portion 16 in acute angular relationship to the plane of the wall 30 and having a free terminal end extending below the plane of the lower surface of the base portion 28 as shown in FIG. 2. It is preferred in this embodiment that the wings 32 join their respective wall portions 30 on a line of jointure between the base portion 28 and the upper fluted portion. The terminal ends of the wings 32 are bent to provide planes in parallel relationship toeach other and to the planes of the walls 30.

The lens member 14 has a shallow dished optical portion 36 and a tubular shank 38 extending therefrom. The tubular shank 38 has on its outer surface a circumferential extension 40 adjacent the optical portion 36 which forms a shoulder therewith. The optical portion 36 has a maximum diameter greater than the shank 38 or the extension 40. The circumferential extension 40 provides a means of centering the lens member 14 in the support 12 as well as preventing its transverse movement in relation to the support aperture. A second circumferential extension 42 is formed adjacent the open end of the shank 38, provides a second shoulder with the shank 38 and includes a tapered external surface running to the open end of the shank 38, thereby providing an optical surface to assist in concentrating the light emanating from the bulb 24.

The harness 44 comprises a bulb 24 having a pair of lamp conductor leads 46 extending therefrom. One of the lamp conductor leads 46 has a resistor 48 engaged therewith and a lead from the resistor 48 and the other lamp conductor lead are engaged to separate insulated wires 50. A good method of engaging the insulated wires 50 to the leads 46 is to utilize retaining clips 52 crimped to the insulating wires 50 and the leads 46.

To engage the harness 44 with the housing 10, the insulating wires 50 are passed through the bulb retaining portions 16 and into the lead retaining and separating portion 18 with the lead which includes the resistor 48 being passed down into the longer tubular portion 22 and the other lead being passed into the shorter tubular portion 20 so that the clips and resistor are completely within their respective tubular portions and the bulb 24 is slightly spaced from the wall dividing the two tubular portions 20 and 22 and is centered over the slotted keyway 34. In this position, the bulb 24 does not extend beyond the area defined by the bulb retaining portion 16. The assembly of the housing 10 and the harness 44 is now ready for engagement with a support 12 having an aperture 54 formed therein. The-aperture 54 has a-diameter which is less than the maximum diameter of the optical portion 36 of the lens member 14 and is approximately equal to the greatest diameter of the extension 40. The

lens member 14 is passed into the aperture 54 placing the optical portion 36 in abutting relationship withthe external surface of the support 12 and having the wall of the aperture 54 in circumscribed abutting relationship with the external surface of the extension 40 as shown in FIG. 5. The close relationship between the extension 40 and the wall of the aperture 54 will prevent movement of the lens member 14 and will also assure that the relationship between the support member 12 and the lens member 14 is predeterminable. The thickness of the support member 12 is much less than the length of the tubular shank 38 of the lens member 14, and, therefore, the tubular shank 38 extends well beyond the rear surf-ace of the support member 12 as shown in FIG. 5.

The assembly of the housing and the harness 44 is engaged to the assembly of the support member 12 and the lens member 14 by passing the keyway 34 of the bulb retaining portion 16 around the shank 38 with the shoulder formed by the second extension 42 resting on the inner surface of the base portion 28 adjacent the keyway 34. The wings 32 have their terminal ends resting against the inner surface of the support member 12 and are flexed away from the support member 12. This tensioned relationship assures a firm engagement between the surface adjacent the keyway 34 and the shoulder formed by the second extension 42. Since the lens member 14 is formed of a transparent material through which emitted light can pass and since the bulb 24 now rests behind and spaced from the lens member 14, when current is applied to the leads 46 lighting the bulb, some of the emitted light will go directly through the optical surface of the optical portion 36 of the lens member 14. Other of the emitted light will strike the chamfered portion of the second extension 42 and will in turn be directed into the optical portion 36 thus allowing the optical surface, which is usually of a predetermined color, such as red, to glow in that color, thereby indicating that the bulb is on. Other of the light emitted from the bulb 24 will be reflected from the fluted upper portion back through to either directly pass through the optical portion 36 or pass through the chamfered portion of the second extention 42 and then through the optical portion 36. The same result will occur if the bulb is abutted against the lens member 14.

A variation of the indicator assembly is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. In this particular case, the housing comprises a bulb retaining portion 17 and a socket retaining portion 56. The bulb retaining portion 17 comprises a base portion 19 having a slotted keyway 21 similar to the keyway 34. A pair of walls 23 extend from the base portion 19 in spaced relation to each other and in substantially parallel relationship but having a height less than the height of the walls 30. A pair of wings 25 extend from adjacent the upper surface of each of the walls in acute angular relationship therewith toward the plane of the base portion 19 having terminal ends similar to those of the wings 32 and extending below the lower surface of the base portion 19.

The socket retaining portion 56 includes an arced bottom portion 58 having a pair of side walls 60 whose edges are arced and whose lower portion merges into the upper edges of the walls 23. The bottom portion 58 is spaced from the base portion 19, as shown in FIG. 8. A tubular socket retaining element 62 is engaged in a superposed, abutting relationship with the bottom portion 58 adjacent its terminal end and within which the metal socket 64 is engaged. The tubular socket retaining element 62 could be formed integral with the bottom portion 58. The metal socket 64 includes two I slots 66 extending beyond the socket retaining element 62 in spaced superposed relationship with the bottom portion 58. At the opposite end from the I slot 66 a series of tangs 68 extend outwardly from the metal socket 64 and may be placed in abutting relationship with a terminal edge of the socket retaining element 62, as shown in FIG. 9. Flexible arms (not shown) are also formed from the body of the metal socket 64 to engage against the inner surface of the socket retaining portion 56 and to hold it in assembly. A capped contact (not shown) is engaged with a bared lead (not shown) which in turn engages against a spring member resting on a series of arms which are bent inwardly to form a shoulder for the spring, and an insulating grommet is sandwiched between the contact cap and the spring. A turn-in bulb 70 is then engaged in the usual manner with the J slots, placing it in position shown in FIG. 9. The engagement of the variation of the indicator assembly, is similar to that of the first assembly disclosed including the use of a lens member 14 and an apertured support 12.

While there has been illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that the invention is best described by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A housing for an electric bulb comprising a bulb retaining portion and an integral lead retaining portion extending from said bulb retaining portion, said bulb retaining portion having a base portion, a pair of side walls extending from said base portion in right angle relationship therewith and in spaced relation to each other, a keyhole slot formed in said base portion opening in a direction away from said lead retaining portion, and an integral wing extending from the external surface of each of said side walls toward the plane of said base portion, and below the plane of the under surface of said base portion, a shelf formed in said bulb retaining portion for engagement with the bulb and said lead retaining portion including a pair of integral tubular portions in abutting relationship with each other and a rib extending from said tubular portions having its lower surface on the same plane as the lower surface of said base portion.

2. The combination of a housing for an electrical element, a lens member and a support having an aperture formed therein, said housing including an element retaining portion and an integral lead retaining portion extending from said element retaining portion, said element retaining portion having a base portion, a pair of side walls extending from said base portion, a keyhole slot formed in said base portion, and an integral wing extending from each of said side walls toward the plane and below the lower surface of said base portion, said lens member having an optical head portion and a tubular shank extending therefrom open at one end, an extension circumscribing said shank adjacent said optical cap portion and a second extension circumscribing said shank adjacent said open end, said wings engaged against a surfalce of said support, said cap portion engaged against an opposite side of said support from said wings and said shank extending through the aperture in said support and said keyhole slot formed in said house ing engaged around said shank and the surface of said base portion adjacent said keyhole slot being in abutting relationship with the lower surface of said second extension formed on said shank.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,221,078 11/ 1940 Dotterer 34038l 2,826,680 3/1958 Cline 340-381 X 3,229,083 1/1966 George 340-381 X 3,289,200 11/1966 Rueger 340-381 NEIL C. READ, Primary Examiner.

I. LEVIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A HOUSING FOR AN ELECTRIC BULB COMPRISING A BULB RETAINING PORTION AND AN INTEGRAL LEAD RETAINING PORTION EXTENDING FROM SAID BULB RETAINING PORTION, SAID BULB RETAINING PORTION HAVING A BASE PORTION, A PAIR OF SIDE WALLS EXTENDIND FROM SAID BASE PORTION IN RIGHT ANGLE RELATIONSHIP THEREWITH AND IN SPACED RELATION TO EACH OTHER, A KEYHOLE SLOT FORMED IN SAID BASE PORTION OPENING IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID LEAD RETAINING PORTION, AND AN INTEGRAL WING EXTENDING FROM THE EXTERNAL SURFACE OF EACH OF SAID SIDE WALLS TOWARD THE PLANE OF SAID BASE PORTION, AND BELOW THE PLANE OF THE UNDER SURFACE OF SAID BASE PORTION, A SHELF FORMED IN SAID BULB RETAINING PORTION FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BULB AND SAID LEAD RETAINING PORTION INCLUDING A PAIR OF INTEGRAL TUBULAR PORTIONS IN ABUTTING RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER AND A RIB EXTENDING FROM SAID TUBULAR PORTIONS HAVING ITS LOWER SURFACE ON THE SAME PLANE AS THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID BASE PORTION. 